“What did you see?” March asked between blasts.
“Listen,” Larry said. He took the interphone and gave his news to the whole ship. “Tanker down—only the bow showing, oil-covered water blazing over the entire bay. Total loss for the Nips on that one. Troopship looks half busted in two, but still afloat, though listing badly. No men on her. Plenty of bodies in the water. Lots got ashore, I’m sure, but plenty got burned in the oil trying to make it.”
A loud cheer rose through the ship as Larry handed the phone back to the orderly.
“Well, anyway,” he said. “It was certainly worth four torpedoes!”
As the Kamongo slid down through the dark waters, the depth charges grew less intense. Finally they got away from them entirely, and resumed the course for their southwest Pacific base.
“Don’t let that fool you,” Larry said, as they sat in the wardroom having a cup of coffee. “There weren’t any sound detectors there, so we got away pretty easily. When the destroyers are after you, they follow you—and their depth charges are bigger. This was a setup!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SCOOT MEETS TWO ZEROS
Scoot Bailey lounged in the ready room of the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill as the big ship plunged through heavy seas at top speed. They had been at sea for some weeks now, in company with a cruiser and three destroyers, heading southwest from Pearl Harbor for scenes of battle. For the last two days the five ships had put on full steam, and everyone aboard knew that something was up.